I have been considering becoming an LE in San Diego for quite some time as I am finishing up my bachelors in management and one of the great advantages is the pension that officers receive. How are things going to play out and how secure is the pension system? I know i am not going into Law Enforcement for the money because i know i could make a lot more money elsewhere but i truly believe i would get more enjoyment out of the LE line of work.

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Like most thing no one can say for certain what is in the future. Pension systems vary CalPers seems to be doing fine. I believe San Diego has their own system, so you may have to look at their system individually. CalPers is by far the largest, but there are still quite a few counties, and cities who have their own system.

You might want to reconsider San Diego City since they changed their pension system I believe as a result of the local election. Both they and the SO have been known for decades for being 2 of the lowest paid depts. around.

I know you said you weren't going into it for the money and rest assured, none of us ever did, but you should check out their new pension rules and check out some salaries and pensions of other depts.

I have been considering becoming an LE in San Diego for quite some time as I am finishing up my bachelors in management and one of the great advantages is the pension that officers receiveD PREVIOUSLY. How are things going to play out and how secure is the pension system? I know i am not going into Law Enforcement for the money because i know i could make a lot more money elsewhere but i truly believe i would get more enjoyment out of the LE line of work.

3% @ 50 is long gone, if you're not vested in PERS as of Dec 31, 2012. Only two things are certain in life; Death and Taxes. No one knows the stability of PERS, but most seem to think they're going to do just fine...

Where else could you work 3 days a week (theoretically speaking) making $100K+ a year? I've yet to find a place

Quote:

Originally Posted by retired

You might want to reconsider San Diego City since they changed their pension system I believe as a result of the local election. Both they and the SO have been known for decades for being 2 of the lowest paid depts. around.

I know you said you weren't going into it for the money and rest assured, none of us ever did, but you should check out their new pension rules and check out some salaries and pensions of other depts.

Like Retired stated, SDPD is not CalPERS, they are apart of the "37 Act"... None of us ever started on this path chasing paper, but I', sure there are plenty that wish they did... GO WHERE THE MONEY is AT! But in all seriousness consider what you might want to accomplish short/long term. If a special assignment is something you'd like to do in 2-3 years after training/probation a bigger agency might suit you... the flip side to that is bigger agency usually means more competition.

A nice median is a Smedium size dept with 80-120 Sworn - like Irvine, doesn't hurt they are typically one of the HIGHER paid in CA

California has $200 billion in mostly in-funded pension liabilities. Do the math. I know some cities and states are starting to dump promised health care onto Obamacare, and the unions, who got him elected, are screaming bloody murder. Good luck

Like most thing no one can say for certain what is in the future. Pension systems vary CalPers seems to be doing fine. I believe San Diego has their own system, so you may have to look at their system individually. CalPers is by far the largest, but there are still quite a few counties, and cities who have their own system.

Yeah my friends dad is kinda high in SD govt and he says even though they look good on the outside their fiscal situation is all screwed up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by retired

You might want to reconsider San Diego City since they changed their pension system I believe as a result of the local election. Both they and the SO have been known for decades for being 2 of the lowest paid depts. around.

I know you said you weren't going into it for the money and rest assured, none of us ever did, but you should check out their new pension rules and check out some salaries and pensions of other depts.

How do i look into that exactly? I have been reading all i can on their websites but trying to read 20 pages of adobe reader is confusing and hard to get good info.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysen

3% @ 50 is long gone, if you're not vested in PERS as of Dec 31, 2012. Only two things are certain in life; Death and Taxes. No one knows the stability of PERS, but most seem to think they're going to do just fine...

Where else could you work 3 days a week (theoretically speaking) making $100K+ a year? I've yet to find a place

Like Retired stated, SDPD is not CalPERS, they are apart of the "37 Act"... None of us ever started on this path chasing paper, but I', sure there are plenty that wish they did... GO WHERE THE MONEY is AT! But in all seriousness consider what you might want to accomplish short/long term. If a special assignment is something you'd like to do in 2-3 years after training/probation a bigger agency might suit you... the flip side to that is bigger agency usually means more competition.

A nice median is a Smedium size dept with 80-120 Sworn - like Irvine, doesn't hurt they are typically one of the HIGHER paid in CA

See thats what im curious about like the Act 37 stuff. I know nothing about that really or how to look that up. Maybe going to the highest paying department and saving the money i make like someone in the private sector would do and if i get the pension then great, if not then it sucks but im prepared on my own.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tahoetarga

I echo Jayson's comments...big cities are having big problems: San Jose is losing cops left and right. Look at smaller agencies: still lots of opportunity and variety, and still good retirement.

Thanks.

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You might also consider CHP? You would more than likely be able to get there out of the academy or after your first year for sure. CHP is in CalPers and the retirement is still pretty good. If you get tired of the office you can transfer to another nearby office. Promoting is a good possibility with excellent pay. With some heavy OT you could make $100-130 k/year.

Escondido PD is hiring just opened up yesterday and only accepting first 200 applications. PM me if you want the announcement. Do not work FED LE, retirement is terrible...but hey its the government what do you expect! I'm stuck for more years than I can count.

You might also consider CHP? You would more than likely be able to get there out of the academy or after your first year for sure. CHP is in CalPers and the retirement is still pretty good. If you get tired of the office you can transfer to another nearby office. Promoting is a good possibility with excellent pay. With some heavy OT you could make $100-130 k/year.

The one thing i really dont know is how much i want to be doing accidents and tickets though. I know they do other things but you know what im getting at. Maybe im wrong...

Quote:

Originally Posted by iceman710

Escondido PD is hiring just opened up yesterday and only accepting first 200 applications. PM me if you want the announcement. Do not work FED LE, retirement is terrible...but hey its the government what do you expect! I'm stuck for more years than I can count.

Thats one thing im not sure is when i should apply or not because i am about 16 months away from my bachelors. Which i understand backgrounds and all that takes a while so i dont know if it would be better to apply now or to wait till i am closer to being done. I do know from the time my buddy applied to when he starts academy for sheriffs it took 14 months.

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If a agency looks good to you, go for it. If you stay in LE, you'll probably work 25-30 years. Things like benefits, salary, working conditions, will change during that time. Hopefully for the better, sometimes for the worse. But things seem to even out in the end. You'll also have opportunities to lateral transfer to another agency if you feel a need to work or live somewhere else.
In the 32 years I worked, my retirement benefits changed 4 times. All for the better. Now retirements are changing for the worse. But even at the worse, they are better then most anything available in the private sector.
And when the economy recovers history will repeat itself. People who really didn't want to be in law enforcement will leave for jobs in the private sector that provide higher salaries, more family friendly work schedules, and less stress and risk. Law enforcement will again have to compete for the best applicants. What they can't match in private sector salaries, they'll have to match with benefits.

I would reconsider working for an Diego PD or San Diego Sheriff's Dept for the reasons given above. Also, my brother just retired from San Diego Sheriff's Dept. I can honestly tell you, that department is awful. They are poorly trained, they lack many resources, and their union representatives is made up of Sergeants and Lieutenants. That is no joke......talk about a conflict of interest! On top of that, they get paid quite poorly, while the cost of living is quite high down there.

San Diego PD isn't much better.

You may want to consider a large agency in Orange County (not Sheriff's) or perhaps L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

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If a agency looks good to you, go for it. If you stay in LE, you'll probably work 25-30 years. Things like benefits, salary, working conditions, will change during that time. Hopefully for the better, sometimes for the worse. But things seem to even out in the end. You'll also have opportunities to lateral transfer to another agency if you feel a need to work or live somewhere else.
In the 32 years I worked, my retirement benefits changed 4 times. All for the better. Now retirements are changing for the worse. But even at the worse, they are better then most anything available in the private sector.
And when the economy recovers history will repeat itself. People who really didn't want to be in law enforcement will leave for jobs in the private sector that provide higher salaries, more family friendly work schedules, and less stress and risk. Law enforcement will again have to compete for the best applicants. What they can't match in private sector salaries, they'll have to match with benefits.

Yeah i know the salary is not huge but does pay pretty well it just if the pension does not get funded when i were to retire that would put a pretty good hurting on me if i wasn't making enough to save up for my own personal retirement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DEPUTYBILL

I have a retired friend from DOJ,he just got word the PERS cola will be over 4% this year.

Really? Thats very interesting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armed24-7

I would reconsider working for an Diego PD or San Diego Sheriff's Dept for the reasons given above. Also, my brother just retired from San Diego Sheriff's Dept. I can honestly tell you, that department is awful. They are poorly trained, they lack many resources, and their union representatives is made up of Sergeants and Lieutenants. That is no joke......talk about a conflict of interest! On top of that, they get paid quite poorly, while the cost of living is quite high down there.

San Diego PD isn't much better.

You may want to consider a large agency in Orange County (not Sheriff's) or perhaps L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

Good to know, I somewhat despise big cities though. SD is about the biggest i would want to go.

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You may despise large cities but the larger agencies have the most variety of possible assignments. Those assignments are often permanent as well, so you could be a detective or motor or whatever for the majority of your career. Smaller agencies tend to have rotating special assignments (i.e. 4 years then you have to go back to patrol).

To put size in perspective, Armed 24-7, mentioned large OC agencies. Pre-budget cut sworn levels were around 400 for Santa Ana and Anaheim, 200 for Huntington Beach then around 150 for Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Garden Grove and Orange. Where as SDPD is around 2,000, LAPD 9,000, OCSD about 1,500 and LASD runs around 10,000. Keep in mind as well, if you work OCSD in a contract city, you get the opportunities associated with the larger department but can probably spend your post-custody career in the same 'small city' (60 person agency) if you choose.